Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: Manhunt.net founder donates cash to McCain
Manhunt.net is getting a lot of ink recently. First there is the Out magazine article looking at the site’s impact on gay male culture. Now one of the site’s co-founders is a proud John McCain donor. According to Opensecrets Jonathan Crutchley has given the maximum individual donation to the presumptive Republican nominee.
Be prepared to be cut if you describe Crutchley as a liberal Republican. He admits his brand of Republicanism isn’t the same when compared to a Republican from Alabama, but for him the word liberal is an insult of the highest order.
If I were a betting man, I would wager camp McCain will return the cash when the story gets a wider audience. McCain can’t seek the support of the GOP base and take money from a gay guy who makes tons of money off of gay sex. Sure McCain could make a big tent argument but that takes political courage, a rather rare commodity in a close election.
Hopefully more gays and lesbians who think like Crutchley will come out of the closet. I’m not going to shed too many tears for gays who happen to be Republican, but the stories are out there of prejudice against those whose politics are a deeper shade of red. A community only stays vibrant when all ideas are presented at the table and it’s time to give up the deceit that sexuality leads to a liberal agenda.
Erick: You are so right! It’s time to BOYCOTT MANHUNT.NET!
Simply put, Mr. Crutchley is free to speak his mind and support who he wishes, I on the other hand am free to speak my mind and support whom I wish….I can also “vote” with my wallet and cancel my subscribtion. DONE! As for Mr. Crutchley, we in the community who have a distaste for his politics are quite free to hold his feet to the fire, and clearly, many are.
That’s real democracy for you, not the kind Mr. Bush or McCain would have you think.
Way to go Jon! There are few ways as effective to get your voice heard than with your wallet! I hope that GLBT people who are still on this site will spread the word to others there and with any luck they will see a SERIOUS decline! This is a site made up of gay people, by making our voices heard – we should be able to have a HUGE impact! This is no time to be complacent and if they are only left with self-loathing Log Cabin types on their site – thats fine – it will keep them off of the other sites!
While it can be successfully argued that sexuality does not necessarily lead to a liberal agenda and that ideological diversity is a good thing for our community, having someone who gives funds to a homophobic politician and party, while making money off of the very people they are repressing, is hypocritical. As for “liberal” Republicans, there really aren’t any: they are either described as “moderates” or they have dumped the GOP and gone Democrat. Crutchley can believe and do whatever he wants – just like we can withdraw our support for a very wealthy user of gay male desire, after discovering that he is sleeping with the enemy. The McCain camp will give the money back, Manhunt will take a bit of a financial hit and likely recover due to its large subscriber base, and Crutchley will crawl back under his rock and keep raking in the millions, while doing the mental gymnastics needed by his ilk in justifying his support for an ideology that would rather see gay people dead, rather than be a visible, valued, and active part of civil society. Clearly, Crutchley et al care little for our community, other than how they can exploit us for their own selfish goals. Best action to take: use Craigslist.org, which is free, successful, and delightful. The founder, Craig, is a San Franciscan who believes in free services in support of our community, which is an example of the San Francisco values so maligned by the neoconservatives/conservatives/authoritarian types. However, the measly $2300 that Crutchley contributed to the RepubliKKKans should not overshadow Gross’s central thesis that questions how Internet hook-up sites are changing gay male community and behavior, which is the more important issue. My response to Gross’s provocative article can be read at http://www.jimboland.com/2008/08/07/gay-mens-culture-missing-generations-and-the-hunt-for-love/ . I suggest we refocus our attention and resources on successfully incorporating technology into broadening and deepening our sense of community as men who love men, rather than allowing tech to outrun our ethics or to diminish community.
From another gay site:
Jonathan Crutchley, might be trying to destroy gay politics.
Out characterized Crutchley as a liberal Republican, but Towle does not mince words, characterizing him as “right-leaning” – in part for his $2,300 contribution to the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain.
That contribution was first reported on the Huffington Post, which prompted a reader to post a comment to a year-old interview Crutchley gave to Online Personals Watch, complaining that the Manhunt founder apparently doesn’t “believe in equal rights for gay men and women.” The next day, August 10, Crutchley posted a defense, Towle reports, writing, “Welcome to the age of the Internet, where everyone’s private life becomes public. Yes, my contribution to John McCain’s campaign for president was listed on the Huffington Post. I believe that McCain will be a better commander-in-chief than Obama, who also opposes gay marriage.”
In closing, Crutchley corrects the notion that he’s a liberal Republican. “Don’t call me a ‘liberal,’” he posted. “That’s an insult.”
F**K Crutchley and CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TODAY!
$30,000,000.00 ??? F**K HIM!
“Jonathan Crutchley, co-owner and founder of Manhunt.net, contributed $2,300 to John McCain. “If we have a seasoned, experienced person defending the country in this dangerous age,” wrote Crutchley to a blog commentator, “we will be able to argue about the gay agenda later.”
Crutchley founded Manhunt along with Larry Basile for a $800,000 investment in 2001. The site, I read in the phenomenal article by Michael Joseph Gross in this month’s Out magazine, now brings in $30 million a year not counting ad revenues, on members in 100 countries. Manhunt is adding 30,000 new members per week and counts more adherents than every single gay rights group in the country combined.
Sure, everyone has a right to their own political views, but I recoil a bit at a man who sucks fortunes out of our community while undermining it with his vote.”
Well McCain has pledged to appoint another SC Judge like Scalia who can overturn Lawrence v. Texas and take us back to the good old days when gays were in jail or in the closet.
That might actually help Manhunt’s business – more closet gays.
As for me I think I’ll stick to other online sites.
If Jonathan Crutchley is so uptight that he thinks being labeled a liberal is an insult of the highest order, he should read Wayne Besen’s posting at http://www.waynebesen.com/2008/08/in-defense-of-liberalism.html
I don’t think he really understands what that word means in its fullest sense.
The fact that Crutchley uses the term “gay agenda” is VERY telling! How many gay or gay supportive people do you know who use that term? I don’t know any! The only people I know who use that term are ANTI-GAY people! BOYCOTT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wouldn’t be so quick to jump on some “Manhunt is run by fascists!” bandwagon. Mr. Crutchley is making the donations in his own name, not Manhunt’s. So while I’m not thrilled with the news, it’s still his money to do with as he pleases. It’s the same way the causes you donate *your* money to doesn’t mean your employer supports them.
Bradley Johnson, you have it backwards. Crutchley’s donations to McBush are not like an employee’s donations; they are an owner’s donations and, as such, they do fairly reflect on the company he owns.
Bradley – sorry to say but what a bunch of crap! Who the f**K cares if he is making the donation in HIS NAME? Yes, OBVIOUSLY, it is still HIS MONEY – we should know, we GAVE him the BULK OF IT! He isn’t some low-level employee with precious little involvement in the company – he is a CO-FOUNDER for Christsakes! … and one of the most glaring examples of a HYPOCRITE I have read about in a LONG TIME. Rationalize all you want – this man WILL be held ACCOUNTABLE!
Bradley,
Pardon my bluntness, but you’re out of your mind.
You think it’s a good idea that there’s a wide-range of opinions represented in the Gay community? Such as banning Gay Marriage… or returning all those adopted children (that McCain opposes). How about firing all Gay teachters?
Any Gay who supports McCain, especially with money earned off the backs of other gays, is exhibiting one single trait: internalized homophobia.
Why would it possibly be a good thing for our own people to support our sworn enemies?
Sorry, but this article is one of the dumbest I’ve read in a long time. You owe an apology to the Gay community for supporting this anti-gay drivel.
“Well McCain has pledged to appoint another SC Judge like Scalia who can overturn Lawrence v. Texas and take us back to the good old days when gays were in jail or in the closet. That might actually help Manhunt’s business – more closet gays.
As for me I think I’ll stick to other online sites.”
Well said, Patrick O’Neill. Scalia has been waging a campaign to overturn Lawrence since the day the decision (and his dissent) were published. And McCain has not just promised to ‘appoint a judge like Scalia,’ he has promised that all his judicial nominations will pass muster with the religious right.
But the real election opportunity will be the underticket – the Senate and the House races. Since Obama is unlikely to win, it is critical that the Democrats take a great enough majority in the Senate to block the rightists that McCain is going to nominate.
Dump Manhunt and sign on to Big Muscle or Big Muscle Bears at bigmuscle.com or bigmusclebears.com. The founders of these sites are not gay Uncle Toms. If anyone still uses Manhunt after knowing about his donation to McPain, he is part of the problem and not part of the solution.